This invention relates generally to a machine for shearing scrap metal. More particularly, this invention relates to a scrap metal shear machine in which scrap is bi-directionally compressed prior to shearing and is fed to the shear head assembly by the force of gravity. With still more particularity, the present invention relates to a mobile, gravity fed, hydraulically operated, guillotine type shear machine.
Machines used in the compacting and shearing of bulk scrap materials are massive implements. Such machines are typically shipped piecemeal to the location of their employment where they are assembled and fixedly installed on a substantial foundation and support structure. The foundation and support structure are generally provided separately at the site where the shear machine is to be installed. Typical of such installations are the scrap shearing machines illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,202,263 and 4,660,469.
Scrap shear machines are generally employed in scrap yards of considerable acreage and in some instances such machines are required to be disassembled and reassembled at alternate sites either within the same scrap yard or at a scrap yard of a completely different location. The disassembly, movement and reassembly of such shear machines is a time-consuming, arduous and costly process due to the physical size and weight of the individual shear machine components and the need for site preparation, including the fabrication of a new foundation.
Shear downtime, which results from the relocation of a typical machine or the remoteness of a typical machine from the scrap it is intended to process, results in greatly reduced efficiency of the scrap reclaiming operation. Further, the more remote the shear machine is from the bulk of the scrap being processed, the more costly and time consuming it is to physically move the massive amount of scrap which is to be processed from its storage location to the near proximity of the shear machine site. Typically, a shear machine can be expected to process on the order of one hundred tons of scrap in a work day.
The need exists for a scrap shearing machine capable of processing on the order of one hundred tons or more of scrap per day which can quickly and efficiently be moved within a scrap yard or from one scrap yard to another.